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Some places just don’t have the density of jobs and residents and intensity of activity that justifies an investment in rail transit. Many of these communities are investing in bus and shuttle service as well as in programs that make it easier and more pleasant to carpool, walk and bike to jobs in an urban or suburban downtown, and to get healthier while doing it. Des Moines, for example, which has a population 400,000, has been investing nearly $2 million a year to make the downtown more walkable and create a network of bike lanes and trails.
Google — which offers job perks that are the envy of Silicon Valley, including chef-prepared food at all hours — is trying to make commutes as painless as possible by ferrying its pampered workers on shuttles that run on biodiesel, with leather seats, wi-fi, and even room for dogs. The Google shuttle carries a quarter of the company’s…

About 6½ years ago we started collecting articles of interest for folks in the office. That turned into collecting articles for the Reconnecting America board and then an email list that was shot off to members. The email list has grown now to more than 1,600 members of Reconnecting America and folks who like to receive news articles about issues related to cities.

"Public Markets: Anchors for Neighborhood Economic Development," the 2010 report from Reconnecting America's CTOD partner, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, has been added to the Research Center's best practices database. The report notes that sustainable employment growth comes from business creation, and public markets play a critical role as local business incubators. Attractive markets anchor a business district, the authors explain, and bring in a greater number of customers. The report includes case studies from the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, Eastern Market Detroit, Easter Market DC and Pike Place Market.

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Research by CTOD in 2008 found that people who commute by transit tend to work in the professional, technical or financial services sectors, or in insurance, government, or quasi-public agencies such as utilities — because these are jobs that are typically clustered together. Other industries that generate considerable ridership are hotels and some types of clothing stores. Not coincidentally this mix of businesses closely resembles what is typically found in transit-rich downtowns.
It’s not quite so easy for lower- and middle-skilled workers to commute by transit, however, either because they work at all hours — while transit service is most frequent during regular business hours — or because they work in manufacturing, warehousing or big box retail, which can’t be built at the densities and concentrations that are required to make it financially feasible to build transit to…

The Surdna Foundation is developing a Sustainable Environments Storybank, the focus of which is to feature innovative ways to update infrastructure and foster healthy, sustainable and just communities. In this vein, Surdna has asked Reconnecting America and other Surdna grantees to contribute real-life stories about the green economy and sustainable infrastructure.

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Job sprawl has been especially bad news for low-skilled underemployed or unemployed workers because it creates a “spatial mismatch” between where they live and where jobs are located. A number of studies have found that while minority and lower-skilled workers still tend to live in core urban neighborhoods in disproportionately high numbers, lower-skilled jobs are often located in outlying suburban areas that tend to be more white. A 1997 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study found, for example, that 87 percent of lower-skilled service jobs were being created in suburban areas.
“People sprawl has long been known for its effect on the environment, infrastructure, tax base, quality of life and more,” Brookings Institution analyst Elizabeth Kneebone writes in a 2009 report on job decentralization. “Now we must recognize what ‘job sprawl’ means for the…

FTA Joint Development Proposed Circular
After much anticipation, the Federal Transit Administration released its Joint Development Proposed Circular today. The proposed circular defines the term "joint development", explains eligible activities for FTA funding, describes the legal requirements applicable to the acquisition, use and disposition of FTA funded real property, and outlines the most common crosscutting requirements. The FTA is requesting comments on the proposed circular until April 5, 2013.
Federal Register LinkDownload Joint Development Proposed Circular
National Online Dialogue
FTA has announced an online dialog seeking ideas on how to effectively include transit operators on…

Editor's Note: This week’s excerpt from Are We There Yet? is all about the challenges – and opportunities – associated with suburban employment. Suburbs that suffered least during the economic downturn tend to be those that are more walkable, have a mix of moderate density housing and jobs. Many regions are using transit as an organizing principle to rethink the suburbs, and the sidebar discusses one national example doing exactly: Tyson’s Corner, VA, in the Washington, DC, region, which is rethinking a suburban office park as the area gains three new Metro Rail stations. More prosperous and connected suburbs should also be a key component in any regional economic strategy, since suburbs are where more than half of all lower- and middle-skilled jobs are located.
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Suburban employers say it can be difficult to recruit employees, a situation that sparked national interest last year…

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The Half-Mile Circles blog is a place to share information about recent research, innovations and other issues related to TOD and livable communities. We also invite experts to talk about their work. Combined with Jeff Wood's The Other Side of the Tracks, the Half-Mile Circles blog is an opportunity for a daily dose of TOD, and allows you to weigh in with your own opinions. Usual blog rules apply; please keep the comment threads civil. To submit an expert article, contact Jeff Wood